


Keep Away From Barnum

by FireMorning



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, charity being a Queen, circus antics, pt and lettie with a sibling relationship i crave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 04:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13628685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireMorning/pseuds/FireMorning
Summary: Good ideas come from strange places, sometimes.





	Keep Away From Barnum

Taking Barnum’s hat wasn’t always part of the show. In fact, it was never planned to be. Then again, very few things were as they were planned to be as far as the circus was concerned. 

The rehearsals before the show were always artfully controlled chaos. Performers half in and half out of costume running through their acts in different sections of the tent, testing the props for the performers on the ground, while the braver souls checked on the rigging for the trapeze. The members of the band were strolling in and warming up at their own paces, filling the tent with pleasing, but disjointed music. The least obtrusive part of the tent was the corner where the elephants were being washed down and prepared for the early evening show. At the center of this tornado of chaos was the king himself, PT Barnum.

Barnum was hard to miss. Not only for his red jacket, or his stature, but for his presence. If the rehearsal was an orchestra, he was the conductor, turning the mess of sequins and stunts into a true show. The man dodged between horses, tumblers, stilt walkers, and clowns as he jumped up onto one of the large platforms the elephants stand on during the show. 

“Celine! Make sure those silks are tied with the knot Ty showed you.” He called out in one direction, slowly spinning in a circle to survey his kingdom. “Vee! Make sure all the horses’ shoes are on tight enough and then let them rest until the show.” Another few steps. “Brick! You’re doing perfect. Thank you for your hard work.” Before he could make another circle, a voice rang out behind him, easily cutting through the noise. 

“Keep spinning like that and you’ll fall over again.” Lettie warned, an amused smile on her face. PT lit up at the sight of his friend and knelt down on the platform to be closer to eye level with her. She was half ready for the show as well, in costume but not in full makeup yet. It was foolish to put it on this early, with so much work left to be done. It would just get smeared- PT knew this from experience.

“What can I help you with, lovely?” He questioned. There was little he hadn’t assisted with when it came from setting up for the show. Everyone needed a bit of assistance sometimes. By now he could usually just focus on the details, adjusting a headpiece here, or a dash more of glitter there, but he never minded getting his hands more dirty. 

“The front office was asking if Charity is coming tonight, they want to pass off the month’s finances for review.” 

It could not be said that PT Barnum was anything less than a wizard when it came to putting on a show. He could bluff his way past the keenest eye, and talk the most stubborn person into a fantastical plan. But after nearly running both himself and the circus into the ground with...questionable financial choices, it was agreed that Charity would take over as more of a business manager. She had the education and the good sense for it, and it left PT free to focus on his strengths.

The man in question scrunched his brow and thought about what day of the week it was. If it was one of the days the girls were going to stay with their grandparents for the night, Charity would absolutely be in to visit with the family and do the portion of work that couldn’t be taken home and sent with PT. Knowing her boss rather well at this point, Lettie spoke again. 

“It’s Thursday.” She helpfully supplied, resting a hand on her hip.

“Thursday! Yes, Charity should be in an hour before the show starts.” Barnum gave a big nod, causing his hat to tumble off his head and onto the ground near Lettie’s feet. They both looked down at it, then at each other. He gave a sheepish smile. “Could you, ah…?” He gestured down towards the fallen hat.

Lettie bent down and picked up the ornate top hat, gently dusting off the bit of dust that had gotten on it. However, instead of passing it back off to Barnum, she kept holding it. 

PT considered Lettie to be the sister he never had. The entire circus was family, but he was particularly close to her. That meant they got into little teasing back and forths, so he knew the look in her eyes. It was the same look he had seen his girls get when they were about to break out into a new game. He had to move carefully. 

“Lettie? Can I have my hat back please?” He reached his hand out, locked in a stare down now. Anyone in the immediate surroundings had stopped to look, they had seen this before, and it usually meant a bit of fun was coming up. 

Looking a bit past PT, Lettie locked eyes with Brick and, without warning other than a small nod from the strongman, she tossed it over Barnum’s head. 

PT scrambled back, nearly going tumbling off of the platform he had been perched on. He quickly climbed down and turned to face Brick. The strongman had caught the hat with ease and was now holding it above his head, far too high up for even a man of Barnum’s height to reach. He didn’t even get a chance to ask for the hat back before it was tossed again, over to a pair of tumblers. 

The two had stopped their stretches to partake in the teasing of their ringmaster, even though the one that had caught it was holding the hat out. Barnum thought the game was to end there, and as he walked forward he smiled and spoke.

“Benji, thank you kindly for recovering that.” However, right before he could grab the hat, Benji did two quick backflips away from Barnum, landing a few feet away and offering the hat again. PT was quick to pick up on the game and played along, a smile still on his face as he tried to lunge forward and take the hat back. Benji managed to pass off the hat to the other tumbler mid flip, and the game became both keeping track of his hat and trying to catch it. Eventually, it fell to the ground, and PT dashed forward to grab it.   
From there, the hat was scooped up by Lacy, who threw it to Tom, who ducked under two of the stilt walkers legs to hand it off to the Lord of Leeds. From there, in a miracle of timing, it was thrown up to Anne, passed off to WD, then dropped down to the ground in front of the elephants. 

During the whole chase, the tent was filled with laughter and delighted yelling. Friendly taunts were thrown around just as easily as the hat was, and if running a circus and looking after two growing girls wasn’t enough to keep Barnum in shape, he would’ve been wheezing from bounding all around the tent. He slowed himself to a walk now, seeing no one else going for the hat. That is, until the elephant, Susan, walked forward and picked it up with her trunk. The loudest laughter yet filled the tent, ringing out past the canvas walls and out into the streets. 

Barnum held his arm out for the twentieth time that day, giving the elephant a weary look. He knew better than to snatch something from an animal many, many times bigger than him, but he refused to leave his favorite hat in the hands...or, trunk, of an elephant. Everyone in the tent watched the showdown with bated breath, wondering who would make the first move. 

As it turned out, neither of them did. 

“It’s impolite to stare at a lady, Phin.” A voice called out from one of the side entrances to the tent. There stood Charity Barnum, an amused look on her face at her husband’s antics. With a grace and power that made anyone in the way take a small step back, Charity moved through the tent until she was standing next to Susan. She gave the elephant a light pat on the side, she had been fond of the creatures since PT had brought them into the show. 

“Do you think you could return the hat to PT, Ms. Susan?” She asked, her tone polite but firm. 

Barnum should know by now not to doubt his wife. He still did, this once. 

“I don’t think asking the elephant nicely will get her to…” He trailed off as the hat was gently lowered onto his head. There was a victorious look in Charity’s eyes as the rest of the circus troop clapped, and she gave a little bow. 

“The show isn’t going to prepare itself, Phinn. And the accounts won’t put themselves in order either.” She gave Barnum a passing kiss on the cheek as she left the tent again, heading towards her office in the collection of small buildings behind the tent.

Barnum stood quietly for a moment, before his head snapped up. His hat almost flew off his head again. 

“EVERYONE! I have a new idea for the show tonight…”


End file.
